A Different Drummer
by Morralls
Summary: Parker wasn't always a thief, but she did start early. A series of oneshots that tells how Parker became everyone's favorite thief.
1. Angel

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears the beat of a different drummer. Let him march to the beat he hears, however measured or far away."

-Henry David Thoreau

The audience was full, and the teacher was rushing around, straightening costumes and fixing things. She went to the six year old girl who stood, just a bit away from everyone else, and knelt in front of her. "Are you ready?" The blonde nodded, gazing at the teacher with eyes that were dark brown, almost black. She was hugging a large stuffed rabbit, which no one could get away from her. "Honey, you're about to go onstage. You can't take your bunny." The teacher took it and pulled it out of the child's arms, then steered her closer to the curtain. "Remember, when the piano starts playing, walk on."

The piano started playing, and the little girl walked out onstage in a white dress, a halo propped above her head with wire, and fluffy white angel's wings. She stopped when she was center stage and looked at the teacher, who was standing by the curtain and mouthing the line at the child. _Christmas is about giving._ The line was easy, and the child had long since memorized it. She looked out at the audience.

"Christmas is about giving." She said. Now, she was supposed to go to the tree, and give the fake candles to the other children, and they were supposed to sing 'Angels We Have Heard on High'. Instead, she pointed at the teacher holding the stuffed rabbit. "So why did she take Bunny?"

The audience laughed, the teacher looked scandalized, and the little blonde stood in the stage, perfectly serious, until the bunny-thieving teacher hurried onstage, led her off, and returned the stuffed animal.

Daddy didn't like that. She wasn't supposed to be a comedian. She had embarrassed him, and he was mad at her for it. She looked away and let him yell at her, hugging Bunny close. As long as he didn't take him away tonight, like he did last week, she could stand being yelled at. He took Bunny away.

She took him back.

Author's Note: Parker is probably the hardest person to write about, because she's the most unpredictable and the hardest to understand. I decided that I'd really like to give Parker a try, because I'm not sure if I can write crazy. Please read and review, because I really want to know how I can improve my Parker. I don't know how apparent it is, but this is the occasion of Parker taking the bunny back that led to the 'better thief' comment. I chose this, because I think that's where it all started for Parker, and I'm trying to kind of pave her road to thievery. Tell me what you think!

~Morralls


	2. Thief With no Family

_We have a new student, so let__s all be nice and welcome her.__ The teacher said. The class clapped obediently as the blonde stepped forward. __A__Tell us your name.__ The teacher, Mr. Daniels urged._

_A__I__m...__ The girl didn't say anything for a moment. __A__People call me Rose.__ She said. She didn't like her name, and had come up with one that she liked better. _

_A__Why do people call you Rose?__ He asked. __A__That__s not your name._

_A__It__s my middle name.__ She lied with a shrug._

_A__Fair enough. Rose it is.__ He looked around the room and pointed to a seat that was surrounded by people. __A__There__s an open seat right over there. Why don__t you sit there?_

_Parker wrinkled her nose and looked around as well. There was an empty seat near the door. __A__Who sits in that seat?_

_A__No one. Would you rather have that one?__ The teacher asked. The decade old blonde nodded and he propelled her gently towards the seat. She took it and Mr. Daniels started to teach. _

_A__I hope you all read the third chapter of __Unbreakable__.__ Mr. Daniels said. __A__Who can tell me what happened in it? Kirsten?_

_A__Emily__s little sister, Mary was born, and Emily was really jealous at first, because Mary got all the attention. She didn't like her little sister._

_A__Good. Who can tell me what happened next? How about you Trevor?_

_The boy sitting next to __Rose__ sat up a bit straighter, trying to look as though he had been listening. __A__Um... Emily__s mom let her hold Mary, and Mary smiled at her. Then her dad came to sit with them._

_A__Very good. So what was the theme of this chapter? Can anybody tell me? Maybe Rose?_

_A__It was family.__ She whispered, looking down. __A__The chapter was about family._

_A__Yes. You're right about that.__ He clapped his hands brusquely, then started passing out sheets of printer paper. __A__So, we__re going to draw our families today.__ He started walking around the aisles, helping the kids who needed his help. __Rose__ frowned at her page, her pencil poised to draw. She drew a stick figure man and a stick figure woman, and then erased it. She tried drawing her first foster parents, but quickly erased them too. She drew her current foster parents, and then erased them as well. Finally, she drew Bunny, and kept it._

_A__A bunny?__ Trevor sneered. He had been looking over her shoulder as she erased her three previous tries. __A__A bunny isn't family._

_A__He is too!__ She retorted, angry tears in her eyes. __A__Take it back!_

_A__No! A bunny isn't family.__ Trevor taunted. __A__Or are you part rabbit?_

_A__Stop it!_

_A__What__s wrong Rose?__ Mr. Daniels had come to her side and was peering over her shoulder._

"_She says that a bunny is family!" Trevor said, his eyes glinting maliciously._

"_Is that your pet bunny?" Mr. Daniels asked gently. She shook her head. "Is he… your stuffed animal?" She nodded. "Well, Rose, honey, a stuffed animal isn't really family." _

"_But he's the only one I have." She protested, her dark eyes wide._

"_What about your parents?"_

"_I don't know them."_

"_What about your foster parents?"_

"_They're not my family." She said earnestly._

"_Okay Rose. Your bunny will work, I suppose." Mr. Daniels walked away._

"_Rabbit Girl." Trevor accused. 'Rose' glared at him. _

"_I don't like you." She announced._

_At recess, 'Rose' went to the swing set and stayed there. She watched Trevor showing off his baseball cards, and brag about one that was really rare, __Honus Wagner_ _(supposedly the rarest of them all)__. When they were called in, he pushed past her. The little blonde stopped, smiling after him._

_The next day, Trevor came into school, very disgruntled, because he had lost his baseball cards. That day at lunch, he bit into his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and his teeth encountered something that was neither peanut butter nor jelly. He pulled out one of his missing baseball cards. _

_Over the course of the week, he found the missing cards in strange places: in the toilet, in his food, stuck under his desk by chewing gum, in the mud of the playground, stuck to the ceiling over his bus seat. The only card he didn't find was his Honus Wagner baseball card. _

'_Rose' never said another word to him after that first day, but at times he caught her watching him with a satisfied smile on her face._

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_Author's Note: I like the idea for this story. It's significant because it shows Parker's first real escapade as a thief, and it also shows her dislike for telling people her name. Now, the way I'm planning this is that every chapter is a bit longer than the last, and I want the story to show how Parker became who she is now._


End file.
